Day Of The Dead In Mexican 'And All Souls' Day

Death is the occurrence that everybody has to face; it is very traumatic experience that we are trying understand and art helps to process our feelings. In our Western society everybody is scared even thinking about death and everybody takes all measures to avoid dealing with dead, we all try to achieve the immortal life and the eternity.

Art for the Living

It segment we learn that art was meant for living, to make them stop, and think what is ahead. This art in part is about death and afterlife but also it is about this life and how we are living it.

The Day of the Dead in Mexican or All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days is a holiday observe in Catholic world that makes us remember dead, and pay our respects.

Day of the Dead in Mexico is celebrated on November 1st and November 2nd, Mexicans honor their dead relatives by offering flowers, and food. A characteristic of this day in Mexico is the humor associated with the art. We see comic figures of skeletons. We see the Calaveras – skeletons made of sugar. Mexican art shows death as sweet as sugar candy, for them death is not the end it is important to remember to smile because death it is just a beginning of all the festivities.

It brings fear, it brings melancholy. The art in medieval times meant to remind living that dead is part of our existence and we all should be prepared to face it. People are reminded that they need to find balance between joys of life, and preparation for salvation and after life.

The Buddhist art shows that there are six realms of existence that people can be reborn into: celestial, demigod, human, animal, or the worst hell. We see Japan paintings that represent those six reincarnation